PATNA: In what can be described as a blow to the ruling BJP, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said that there was no need for an 'anti-conversion' law in the state as the state government was keeping a close watch on the issue and people of different religious communities were living in peace.
Nitish's remarks came in the wake of some BJP leaders' demand to include Bangladeshi refugees in caste-based count in Bihar and reports appearing in a section of the press that Hindus were being enticed to change their religious faith at the behest of proselytizers.
Talking to the media after launching 'Leather and Textile Policy 2022', Nitish said people of different religious groups were living in peace in the state. “I don't think there is a need for 'anti-conversion' policy here. The government is alert and maintaining close surveillance,” he added.
Nitish's statement is being viewed as a strong message to the BJP, which is an ally of the NDA. Union minister and BJP MP from Begusarai Giriraj Singh and some other leaders of the saffron party had demanded that anti-conversion law should be framed in Bihar to prevent incidents of conversion of the religious faith of Hindus.
Leaders of the two ruling partners of Bihar NDA have different views on some contentious issues on earlier occasions too. “Though we are part of the government, ideologies of our party are different from that of BJP for obvious reasons,” JDU MLC Neeraj Kumar said.